Chapter 3

Elara Vance POV

On the night of my comeback concert, New York's Lincoln Center was packed.

Backstage in the dressing room, Julian personally knelt to help me put on my diamond-studded heels.

He looked up, his gaze so tender it could melt anyone. "My Elara, you will be the most dazzling queen on stage tonight."

I looked at him, a faint smile playing on my lips. "Will I?"

"Of course." He stood, pressing a reverent kiss to my forehead. "Go on, I'll be watching you from the best seat."

I hugged my cello, walking step by step towards the spotlighted stage.

When I played the first note, the entire hall fell silent. It was "Sunken Star," a piece I had once been most proud of.

However, just as the music reached its climax, the giant LED screen behind the stage suddenly flickered.

The beautiful starry background vanished, replaced by a maliciously edited surveillance video and audio recording.

In the video, my back was visible at the top of the stairs, coldly watching Chloe fall. In the audio, a voice eerily similar to mine sneered arrogantly, "As long as your hands are crippled, the principal position will be mine."

The music stopped abruptly.

The entire hall erupted in an uproar.

Countless gazes of shock, disdain, and anger shot like arrows towards me in the center of the stage.

"Oh my God! She's truly despicable!"

"So, Chloe's scandal and accident back then were all her doing!"

"Murderer! Get off the stage!"

Camera flashes from the media flickered wildly, and reporters swarmed forward like sharks smelling blood.

I didn't move, just quietly held my cello, my gaze cutting through the chaotic crowd, landing precisely on Julian in the VIP box.

He stood in the shadows, his gentle mask completely torn away, replaced by chilling indifference and malicious pleasure.

He looked at me as if I were a piece of trash finally crushed.

Under the escort of security, Julian slowly descended the stairs and came to the front of the stage.

Reporters immediately thrust microphones at him. "Mr. Reed! Were you aware of your wife's actions?"

Julian stopped, his gaze coldly fixed on me on stage.

He took the microphone, his voice deep and pained. "I apologize to everyone. For these five years, I was blinded by her hypocritical mask. Only today have I uncovered the truth of what happened."

He paused, every word he uttered like a knife stabbing straight into my heart. "Elara Vance, you disgust me."

That single sentence, amplified by the microphone, echoed through every corner of the theater.

The man who once held me in the palm of his hand, who would ache if I even frowned, was now personally pushing me into an abyss of destruction.

I stood on stage, looking at his seemingly righteous face, and suddenly laughed.

I didn't argue, didn't struggle. Because I knew all this was evidence he had meticulously fabricated. He had spent five years setting this trap, and he would never leave me any room to turn the tables.

I just stared fixedly at Julian, mouthing a phrase only we both understood:

"Julian Reed, as you wish."